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All I can say is I have mixed feelings about it. I still stand by everything I have said about the relative harmlessness—and potential effectiveness—of CHOP, at least during daytime hours. I can't see how the late-night gun violence in the area over the past couple of weeks can be ignored, however. Remember, I live three blocks away, and between gunfire and fireworks that keeps getting set off, multiple times I have woken up at night having no idea which one I was hearing.
I do feel like the existence of CHOP over time, as opposed to continued active marches and demonstrations (such as the one to the Mayor's house on Monday: shorturl.at/DLWY5), has yielded diminishing returns. The focus and goals of people in the "zone" varied widely depending on location *within* the area, and virtually all of Cal Anderson Park basically just became a Tent City (shorturl.at/DJQRX).
Cal Anderson has long been one of my favorite parks, and although I would absolutely never place its importance over Black Lives, that area in particular seemed only vaguely connected, at best, to the spirit of protest at nearby 12th & Pine, and—this strikes me as important—the park's encampments contained mostly white people. How many of them are legitimately homeless people, I do not know, and this city's long history of dipshittery regarding the homelessness crisis is a separate conversation.
How the SPD can best handle it is an open question, and I still don't trust any of them, but according to reports the operation this morning was met with little resistance and has not turned violent—SO FAR. It feels a little like, if nothing else, the SPD has gained a slightly better understanding of optics.(We'll see if even that lasts.)
This all remains very complicated and nuanced, and I still recommend you follow people like local journalist Omari Salisbury (@Omarisal) and artist Tessa Hulls. I absolutely still support the push for radical reform in all police departments, with SPD having no less a critical need for it, and street protests of all kinds must continue until actionable, structural change is implemented. I just fear that the evolution of CHOP specifically had veered into a less effective direction. Relentless daytime demonstrations in key locations (maybe even still at the East Precinct) should still continue, with my continued unwavering support.
My relationship with my mother evolved over the years from great to bad to cautious to reversed, but even in the face of tragic ends, my brain defaults to remembering the good times, of which there were plenty.
My heart aches today. Side note: I have thought a lot over the past week about how easily Mom could have died when she had her first stroke in 2014. These past six years were a gift.
Wendy Jean "Jeanni" Rogers, beloved wife and loved mother, sister, grandmother: 1952-2020
https://t.co/ys4pOhMHk5
My heart breaks for all the people who have endured something like this living alone, losing someone in the middle of a pandemic when people can’t get together to comfort each other. I’ve been thinking about this for months but what I’m going through today puts it into particularly sharp relief.
All you people refusing to wear masks in public can seriously go to hell.